is it too late for an easter post?

well you're getting one either way!

i always feel a bit lame at holidays. i'm not a huge decorator and we usually skip the christmas stockings and easter baskets, etc. i'm sure things will change when we get around to having kids. but for now ... we keep it pretty simple. i did decide (at very last minute) that i wanted to try this little tutorial on poppytalk.

i used a tiny drill bit to drill a hole in the top and bottom of my egg (and only had 2 out of 5 casualties). i also used a needle to carefully pick away at loose shell. try to find a grey spot - this is a sign of weakness in the shell.

then using a syringe, i blew out the inside of the eggs. i soaked them in hot water to clean out the yokes and ran water through them until it ran clear. i finished preparing the eggs by baking them at 350 F for 10 minutes to dry them out.

the painting process took several coats! and in a teeny tiny apartment - i had to be incredibly sneaky.

 

finally, i typed up cheesy little easter themed notes. i rolled them and carefully pushed one inside each egg. "u r eggsra special!" warning: this part was super frustrating. my notes had to keep getting teenier and teenier. i don't usually type in text-speak.

at last ... a little easter egg hunt for mr. munday:

 

i "hop" you had a great easter too!

easter 2011

luckily we celebrated easter on saturday this year ... bc i spent the majority of easter sunday in bed w/ something ick! my easter dress barely made an appearance. then i enjoyed the rest of my day in pjs + a bucket! woo hoo. nothing like being quarantined to an upstairs bedroom when fun is happening downstairs!

but here are a couple of pictures from our saturday celebration:

1 // my grandma spent the holiday w/ us while mom and her sisters sorted out her care for the future. could you keep them in your prayers? they have some tough decisions to make.

2 // every year we have a family (raw) egg toss. the little ones and my 83 year old grandma are included in the pairings. i lucked out w/ my cousin stephen as my partner - but my 5 year old nephew + brother beat us all! then it was on to the egg decorating contest. this year the judge was announced AFTER the decorating. (2 years ago, my nephew was the judge and my brother made a lightning mcqueen egg that swept the boards!) i had a hunch that the judge this year would be grandma - so i went sparkle-tastic. instead my dad was the judge - and it still caught his eye. everybody loves glitter! my nephew won this event too - but i consider myself an honorary winner - 1st adult.

3 // my $1.00 garage sale easter dress!

4 // we usually forget to get a "family" picture of just wade and i. luckily we didn't forget this year ... and we captured it the day before i got sick.

5 // the big event - the easter egg hunt. examining our loot. i wasn't the only adult to participate - there's cash in some of the eggs! my nephew (yes - the same one that one the egg toss and the egg decorating contest) banked w/ $25.00 ... while i walked away with a whopping 50¢.

6 // by the end of the day, we were all overfed and ready for naps!

{inspire} easter DIY roundup

wade and i arrived in illinois late last night to spend easter w/ my family. we're ready for lots of fun family time. in fact, we're about to start easter crafts w/ my neice nyah (2) and nephew haven (5) {and we'll skype w/ dayton (3) and easton (6mo) that are in rhode island. we miss u!}.

i can't wait until we have kids. i mean, i can & we are - but holiday crafts are so much more fun w/ little ones! i imagine i'll be more in to decorating for holidays then. in the meantime, check out all these fantastic easter ideas:

1 // papier-mache easter eggs - not martha
2 // butcher paper spring wreath - alisaburke
3 // easter egg-o-gram - poppytalk
4 // peep s'mores - eclectic recipes
5 // chocolate eggs - martha stewart
6 // sticky fingers cupcake - real simple

it's fun to decorate & bake ... but it's much more important to wade & i that someday we share the true reason behind celebrating easter with our kids. in the end, it would still be a celebration w/ out the chocolate bunnies and easter egg hunts and pretty new clothes (as enjoyable as all of those things are). it's about the love that was shown to us on that first easter!

we hope you have a wonderful good friday (and earth day) and easter w/ those you love.

{weekend update} easter treats!

wade and i were crazy busy this weekend w/ hiking trips, garage sales and ... most important ... new projects for the apt. i can't wait to share! some require staging - others require finishing steps. so i'll have to be patient.

in the meantime ... a little easter eye candy - or would that be "eye cookie":

for once i made the perfect amount of sugar cookies. enough to share w/ friends - but not so many that carpal tunnel syndrome set in before i was finished decorating.

speaking of carpal tunnel syndrome ... have you experienced the decorator bottle set from pampered chef? another pampered chef must-have. holiday cookie decorating {along w/ an annual easter egg toss - odd, i know} has been a family tradition since i was just a little bit - but it was revolutionized a few years past when my older sister brooke brought over this set. so much easier than paper pastry bags! (especially for kids or cookie decorating beginners - aka my husband!)

what are your easter traditions?

{simple things} white place settings

a week ago wade and i celebrated our first 6 months of being married. we didn't plan to celebrate - but my husband is pretty awesome and picked up a lovely bouquet of all my favorite flowers. then on saturday night he suggested that we eat on our china!

so that is exactly what we did:

most of our friends didn't register for formal dinnerware. most of them (and my blog favorites) are somewhat hippie 1960s vintage - but i'm a bit more ... oh ... colonial! :) so it's only suitable that i love a formal dinner table!

and wade and i were particularly excited to register for it. i have so many sweet memories of dinners shared on both my mom and my grandma's china. including the pride i felt when i was invited to sit at the adult table and use the fine china & crystal for the first time.

i love all the bright patterned formal dinnerware available right now:

{source: martha stewart weddings & glamour}

but let's face it people - we can't afford multiple patterns to mix and match as much as martha stewart encourages it. {nor could we store all of it in our apartment.} so we opted for a pretty white + platinum place setting:

{nikko pearl symphony dinnerware}

there's so much you can do with a basic white place setting too. add a table cloth, a few vintage mix/match accent pieces, some bright napkins, a charger or two and fresh flowers ... and voila! white china that would even get martha to double take.

here are a few of my favorite easter ideas:

{source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

are you getting excited about easter? maybe it's because i'm doing lent this year ... but i am counting down the days!